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Mike (8 KP) rated Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett in Books
Oct 10, 2018
Lovely looking little book, smaller than I was expecting, but it is really nice. No dust jacket but a nice thick textured cover and inner pages that make you feel dizzy!
I read it this evening and I'll be completely honest - I was a bit disappointed, although it is a pretty book, it is also pretty thin - 128 pages.including a title page, printing information page, contents page, blank page, Overview, another blank page, 1 page mini bio, 105 quotes*, 4 pages of "By Terry Pratchett" lists.
I think that for £9.99 they could have found more than 105 "seriously funny" quotes from over 50 books and other sources - there isn't even one from each Discworld book. Even some illustrations would have been nice (9 repeats of the same hat picture is not very exciting).
Obviously as a collectore I had to buy it - as will most of us, does it does seem a bit of a "cash in" just to make money out of us, they are pretty much guaranteed to sell over a million copies so they could have made it more substantial for the money.
Still made me laugh out loud a couple of times though.
*One quote per page, separated by title pages
I read it this evening and I'll be completely honest - I was a bit disappointed, although it is a pretty book, it is also pretty thin - 128 pages.including a title page, printing information page, contents page, blank page, Overview, another blank page, 1 page mini bio, 105 quotes*, 4 pages of "By Terry Pratchett" lists.
I think that for £9.99 they could have found more than 105 "seriously funny" quotes from over 50 books and other sources - there isn't even one from each Discworld book. Even some illustrations would have been nice (9 repeats of the same hat picture is not very exciting).
Obviously as a collectore I had to buy it - as will most of us, does it does seem a bit of a "cash in" just to make money out of us, they are pretty much guaranteed to sell over a million copies so they could have made it more substantial for the money.
Still made me laugh out loud a couple of times though.
*One quote per page, separated by title pages
The Museum of Curiosity: 24 Episodes of the Popular BBC Radio 4 Comedy Panel Game: Series 1-4
Full Cast, Richard Turner, John Lloyd and Dan Schreiber
6.0
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The Museum of Curiosity is BBC Radio 4's monumental comedy edifice, and the only one with gargoyles...
Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations
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Writer, broadcaster, and wit Gyles Brandreth has completely revised Ned Sherrin's classic collection...
David McK (3194 KP) rated Blue Moon Rising (Forest Kingdom #1) in Books
Jun 24, 2022
Once upon a time ...
this was my favourite book.
That was back in the early 90s, back when I was in my tweens and back before I had discovered the likes of Terry Pratchett or Bernard Cornwell.
I then lost track of the author for a good two decades or so, only recently re-discovering him when I happened to chance across the 'GraphicAudio' version of the novel on Audible.
I did wonder what a GraphicAudio meant: simply that it was fully dramatized with a full cast, background music, sound effects etc etc - basically, everything but the actual visual aspect! - instead of only one, maybe two, no more than a handful of people reading the story.
As for that story? Firmly in the fantasy genre - Princes, dragons, unicorns, Princesses, magic, royal politics et al - however I do remember when I first read it all those years ago thinking that I had never come across anything quite like it before. That still holds true to this day: yes, it does have all those familiar elements of a classic Good vs Evil story, but the real delight is in the subverting of expectations, and in the story of Rupert and Julia and the DarkWood / Blue Moon.
this was my favourite book.
That was back in the early 90s, back when I was in my tweens and back before I had discovered the likes of Terry Pratchett or Bernard Cornwell.
I then lost track of the author for a good two decades or so, only recently re-discovering him when I happened to chance across the 'GraphicAudio' version of the novel on Audible.
I did wonder what a GraphicAudio meant: simply that it was fully dramatized with a full cast, background music, sound effects etc etc - basically, everything but the actual visual aspect! - instead of only one, maybe two, no more than a handful of people reading the story.
As for that story? Firmly in the fantasy genre - Princes, dragons, unicorns, Princesses, magic, royal politics et al - however I do remember when I first read it all those years ago thinking that I had never come across anything quite like it before. That still holds true to this day: yes, it does have all those familiar elements of a classic Good vs Evil story, but the real delight is in the subverting of expectations, and in the story of Rupert and Julia and the DarkWood / Blue Moon.
My first exposure to Neil Gaiman was when he co-wrote Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch with Terry Pratchett.
This, I believe, was the first of his solo novels that I read.
Circa 2006, not all that long before the movie on which it is based came out.
It was also a, how do we put this?, 'normal' prose novel: not a graphic novel; nor even an illustrated novel (as this is). Indeed, I didn't even know at first that the prose version which I read had previously been issued as an illustrated novel, until I saw it mentioned 'based on the work by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' at the end of the movie.
It then took me approximately a good decade or so before I finally got round to actually reading that version of the work, when I came across it on sale via Comixology. And, I have to say, the illustrations do add a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi to the work: a work which, while the main beats may be familiar to the reader from the movie version, is also very much its own thing and which includes elements not in said movie (Tristran’s wider family, for one, or even the much sadder ending in this)
This, I believe, was the first of his solo novels that I read.
Circa 2006, not all that long before the movie on which it is based came out.
It was also a, how do we put this?, 'normal' prose novel: not a graphic novel; nor even an illustrated novel (as this is). Indeed, I didn't even know at first that the prose version which I read had previously been issued as an illustrated novel, until I saw it mentioned 'based on the work by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' at the end of the movie.
It then took me approximately a good decade or so before I finally got round to actually reading that version of the work, when I came across it on sale via Comixology. And, I have to say, the illustrations do add a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi to the work: a work which, while the main beats may be familiar to the reader from the movie version, is also very much its own thing and which includes elements not in said movie (Tristran’s wider family, for one, or even the much sadder ending in this)
Neverwhere
8.8
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Neverwhere is the stunningly original first novel from Neil Gaiman, the bestselling and prizewinning...
Fantasy
David McK (3194 KP) rated The Last Hero (Discworld, #27; Rincewind #7) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
<i>Fable (noun): a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend: the fables of gods and heroes.
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.
Anansi Boys
9.0
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From bestselling storytelling legend Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods and The Ocean at the End...
Ross (3282 KP) rated Priest of Lies in Books
Jun 26, 2019
Fantastically grim, gritty sequel
*I received a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review*
Priest of Bones was one of my favourite books of last year. I loved the narrative style, the dark tone and the simple yet thrilling storyline. The returning conscripts using their newly learned military tactics to take back their streets and run their gangland empires was a clever, honest and hard-hitting story. It really was "peaky blinders with swords".
The follow-up continues in that vein, the Pious Men gang have consolidated their hold in Ellinburg and are now at full-on gang war. However, as they returned from war, so does a large number of other former gangsters, and a number of new/revived gangs compete for territory.
The fantasy tone is still used here, despite being the mystical, noble pursuit we are used to. I seriously love Mclean's narrative voice, his action scenes and his overall pace of writing.
I was thrilled to see in the Q&A at the end of the book that I was right in thinking Ellinburg was based loosely on Edinburgh.
The feel of this book is very much a grim and nasty version of Terry Pratchett's Guards series, with characterisation and scene setting to rival Pratchett at his best.
A truly immersive compelling read that I loved from start to finish.
Priest of Bones was one of my favourite books of last year. I loved the narrative style, the dark tone and the simple yet thrilling storyline. The returning conscripts using their newly learned military tactics to take back their streets and run their gangland empires was a clever, honest and hard-hitting story. It really was "peaky blinders with swords".
The follow-up continues in that vein, the Pious Men gang have consolidated their hold in Ellinburg and are now at full-on gang war. However, as they returned from war, so does a large number of other former gangsters, and a number of new/revived gangs compete for territory.
The fantasy tone is still used here, despite being the mystical, noble pursuit we are used to. I seriously love Mclean's narrative voice, his action scenes and his overall pace of writing.
I was thrilled to see in the Q&A at the end of the book that I was right in thinking Ellinburg was based loosely on Edinburgh.
The feel of this book is very much a grim and nasty version of Terry Pratchett's Guards series, with characterisation and scene setting to rival Pratchett at his best.
A truly immersive compelling read that I loved from start to finish.
The first novel (later broken into 2 parts?) in Raymond e feist's so-called Riftwar saga; this definitely falls under what I term as epic fantasy as it spans more than a decade, and all the political and personal changes that occur during that time of war, complete with ye olde 'person of unknown origin finding their place in the world'.
You know, the way a lot of fatnsy stories do? Think Luke Skywalker, from the back-planet of Tattoine, or Frodo Baggins from Bagend, to name but two.
Rags to riches, basically.
Anyway, perhaps the key protagonist of this is the keep boy Pug, who, over the course of the story - finds himself a native of two worlds - that's where the 'Rift' from Riftwar comes in, as a magical rift in space connects them - during a time of war between those two planes.
He's not the only protagonist; just the main one - there's also his childhood friend Tomas, the princes Arutha and Lyam, the princess Carline, the magician Kulgan - but Pug is, to my mind, the key character, with most of those other characters introduced through their relationship to him.
Others have commented on the writing style employed by Feist - it may seem 'basic', however that in itself is no bad thing (and, remember, this book is now decades old) as Feist gives you just enough information to envisage your own world. A bit more, perhaps, than the thumbnail sketches of Terry Pratchett (incidentally, one of my favourite authors), but nowhere near the level of detail that JRR Tolkien that could make The Lord of The Rings, well, a bit of a slog at times!
You know, the way a lot of fatnsy stories do? Think Luke Skywalker, from the back-planet of Tattoine, or Frodo Baggins from Bagend, to name but two.
Rags to riches, basically.
Anyway, perhaps the key protagonist of this is the keep boy Pug, who, over the course of the story - finds himself a native of two worlds - that's where the 'Rift' from Riftwar comes in, as a magical rift in space connects them - during a time of war between those two planes.
He's not the only protagonist; just the main one - there's also his childhood friend Tomas, the princes Arutha and Lyam, the princess Carline, the magician Kulgan - but Pug is, to my mind, the key character, with most of those other characters introduced through their relationship to him.
Others have commented on the writing style employed by Feist - it may seem 'basic', however that in itself is no bad thing (and, remember, this book is now decades old) as Feist gives you just enough information to envisage your own world. A bit more, perhaps, than the thumbnail sketches of Terry Pratchett (incidentally, one of my favourite authors), but nowhere near the level of detail that JRR Tolkien that could make The Lord of The Rings, well, a bit of a slog at times!